Barcelona head coach Svetislav Pesic had only the best to say for team captain Ante Tomic following the EuroLeague win of over archrival Real Madrid.
Tomic finished the game with a double-double of 22 points and 13 rebounds plus three assists, so it was only natural that he earned Pesic’s praise.
“Ante is a player like everyone in his position (center). They need defensive rebounds, which improve their confidence. He is a quality player, has tactic, understands basketball… has cojones,'” Pesic said in the post-game presser.
Regarding the match, Pesic commented the following:
“I think we played an excellent game, because we played against Madrid, one of the best – maybe the best – but for sure one of the best offensive teams in Europe, with great individual talent, especially on offense, excellent in transition. This is a team that plays transition and we were very, very good from the beginning until the end. We were consistent, without ups and downs. If you see the official stats, they only made 4 points in transition and 4 in fast reaks, and only 3 points in on-on-one situations. The key of this game was our very good transition defense and responsibility in one-on-one defense against their best offensive players. We had consistency during the game. We played like a machine sometimes, especially on defense. We lacked a bit of concentration on offense, where with had 15 turnovers and 5 offensive fouls, but we controlled the boards, especially on offense, and this is what I like about the team. Not only did we win the game, but we hope to play many more games like that in the Spanish League and the EuroLeague. Congratulations to my players for their game tonight. I cannot find the words to congratulate my players for the way they played tonight. Some may think we play against Madrid and it is always important. For us, this game was an important one to improve our place in the standings and try to make it to the playoffs.”